Forsilvra: Kenna Montrose Merrick

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Name: Jennifer
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Character Name: Kenna Montrose [Name]
Character Age: 23
Gender: Female
Birthday: December 25, 217
Current Location: Belleile
House: Montrose by Birth, [name] by marriage

Player Base: Hayden Panettiere
Appearance:




Personality:

Kenna is as ruthless and cunning as her father. Growing up around Duncan Montrose gave one respect for the power of words, of deeds, of knowledge. She wants to be where the action is and has always found a way to be part of it. Like the rest of the Montrose woman, Kenna is confident and headstrong, bold and somewhat arrogant. She also has a competitive streak that could rival most of the Lords in the land. Kenna likes to win, and when she sets her mind to something, she refuses to budge. Some might call her stubborn, but Kenna prefers to think of herself as driven, goal-orientated, ambitious.

Kenna can often be described as distant. While in her childhood she was extremely close to her twin brother, there is a fence she puts up between herself and everyone else. Now, this wall even exists between her and Kenneth, although she appears to have dropped it for her lord husband. She doesn't often display her emotions outward, unless such display helps her achieve what she wants. Tears are a sign of weakness to her; Kenna rarely cries and never in public. Kenna also holds grudges like python’s kill their prey: tightly and as long as necessary.

That her husband is friends with everyone, open, happy-go-lucky, drives her crazy. She cannot understand how he opens himself to anyone who comes along, as though no one is ever out to hurt him. The worst is that he’s friends with her twin, and doesn’t notice (or realize or care) just how much she tries to throw her ‘happy’ relationship with him in Ken’s face. Ken doesn’t seem to notice (or realize or care) either, which only frustrates her further. If she could chose, Kenneth would not be around, but her twin is one of the horns, and her husband on the council, and thus both twins live in the capital and see each other constantly.

She has a passion for hawking. The powerful birds with their curved beaks and sharp talons appeal to her. She has her own hawk, a female named after her mother, who she imagines, for right or wrong, as being fierce and independent. While Kenna knows she takes her father, she likes to believe that much of her mother lives on inside her. Never knowing her mother has left a part of her feeling empty. She has spent so much time hawking that she’s quite good at it.

She also has a passion for reading. Her father pushed her at a young age to learn to read and while at first she balked at the idea, she found that loved spending her time with fictional people over real ones. If she was curled up with a book off in a private area of the manor, people generally left her alone. Everyone except her twin, who was one of the few people she’d drop her books for in childhood and run off to play. She still reads now, enjoying the hobby as time spent alone.


History:

Kenna and her twin Kenneth were born into the world during a blizzard. Rare to hit the island of Forsilvra, the cold was perhaps a metaphor for how Kenna would turn out. The day turned tragic when Kenna’s mother passed. Thus, the twins and their elder brother were raised by a governess and the twins were nursed by a wet-nurse. Their father was often busy with affairs of the nation, and the twins spent more time with servants than family. Even so, Kenna knew she was her father’s favorite, even if Duncan would never utter such words aloud. As a toddler, she would climb into his lap and wrap her arms around his neck until he grumbled and pushed her off. She was extremely close to her twin as well and the two were hardly ever apart.

Everyone else could be damned.

Living in Forsilvra meant constantly being in the eyes of the court. Kenna was expected to act the lady to help improve the Montrose name. She hated it. She hardly paid mind to her governess. The woman was not her mother, not even noble, and Kenna was certain to remind of that many times. She was a snotty little girl, who spoke her mind and off ran off to be on her own, rather than sit in classes with the other noble children. A few of the girls tried to be her friend, but she brushed them off. Why would she need friends if she had her brother?

Kenna and Kenneth spent fond day together in the gardens, in the woods, down in the town. The first time Kenna got drunk was at 11, when Kenneth stole wine from their father’s cellar and the two snuck off into the manor’s small garden and drank the entire thing. She might have kissed him in that drunkenness just for fun. Kenna doesn’t really remember, except that the two laughed and giggled and cuddled all night long, then passed out and woke up with the sun high over their heads and a house guard standing over them. “We just wanted to see the stars,” Kenna told him, as Kenneth tried to hide the bottle of wine. Fortunately, the guard just laughed, told them he’d had those days, and walked off.

As Kenna grew older, the boys started paying attention to her, trying to court her, impress her father, bring her gifts. She ignored them all. Kenna didn’t care if they wanted her or not. She had little interested in marriage, although she knew her father would be looking to make good connections for the family. She often found ways to insult her suitors with her Montrose wit. Half the time the boys didn’t understand her joke, the other half of the time they ignored it. Kenna was lovely to look at, and with her father on the council, she was a prize to be had.

Out of no where, Kenna stopped speaking to Kenneth. She never told anyone why. Not her father. Not her brother. Nor any friends (if Kenna had any, that is).

Then her father arranged her marriage to Nathaniel Merrick of House Merrick, a newly appointed member of the council. A marriage to another council member would only help Duncan’s position. Thus, when she was seventeen, she and Nathaniel wed. Kenna became pregnant shortly after and gave birth to twin boys, Maddox and Tyler.


Writing Sample:

Kenna stood out the balcony and stared out at the lake. Her wedding would take place in a few days and then she would be moving from the Authority of Castle Matter’s Manor to that of Authority of Diplomacy. She would no longer be Kenna Montrose but Kenna Merrick. The idea didn’t bother her much - marriage to someone of importance was what she’d expected all her life. What bothered her was having to stay in Forsilvra. Kenneth was still in Forsilvra, a very likely candidate for the next nomination to the Five Horns of the King. She closed her eyes thinking of her brother, and how, even after all these years, she could not bring herself to forgive him.

“My Lady?”

Kenna turned around, her expression neutral. Georgia was a good chamber maid, but Kenna rarely smiled for anyone. “Yes, Georgia?”

“Your trunks have arrived.”

“Have them brought in. I suppose we will get to packing.”

“Yes my lady.”

Kenna turned back to look out over the lake, to pretend for one more moment that this would be not be her home forever.


[Time Line Events]

Year 218: Kenneth and Kenna Montrose are born; Giverny dies.
Year 225: Gregor Montrose dies. Malcolm Montrose becomes Earl of Green.
Year 229: Cameron marries Ashleigh Harcourt.
Year 236: Kenna marries Nathaniel Merrick
Year 237: Kenneth becomes Horn of Arbrecht
Year 238: Twin boys Maddox and Tyler Merrick are born
Year 241: Game begins.


Family Genealogy:




  - Gregor Montrose -- Juliette Colbert
    - Malcolm Montrose -- Eilidh Tavish
      - Iona Montrose Harcourt
      - Aelish Montrose MacLeod -- Callum MacLeod
                                     -- Arianne Fontenot Montrose
      - Catriona Montrose
      - Bruce Montrose -- Mairwen Kyffin
    - Duncan Montrose -- Giverny Fleurant Montrose
      - Cameron Montrose -- Ashleigh Harcourt Montrose
        - Douglas Montrose
      - Kenneth Montrose (twin)
      - Kenna Montrose Merrick (twin)
    - Edme Montrose Farquhart Fitzwulf
    - Craig Montrose -- Eona MacGrath
      - Nessa Montrose
      - David Montrose
      - Morna Montrose
      - Neil Montrose
                             -- Gilleanne Deverre
      - Heather Montrose Fleurant
      - Ailie Montrose

[Malcolm Montrose]

Your uncle Malcolm and Nathan both say APPROVED!

[Jon Fitzwulf]

Approval from Jon. You look an awful lot like...No, couldn't be, nevermind. Approved!

[Duncan Montrose]

Your daddy says you're approved. But then, he's always had a fondness for you.